Jackson
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Jackson Genealogy
Jack is believed to have derived from Janken, a pet-form of Jan or John. Jankin shortened to Jacken and thence to Jack, a process that was completed by the beginning of 14th century. Jack also came to be used as a synonym for man or boy, a usage that has continued to the present day - "I'm all right, Jack" being a popular catch phrase in England in the 1960's.
Jackson is the patronymic name, meaning "son of Jack."
England. Adam Jackesonne and Adam Jakson appeared in the Staffordshire rolls of the 14th century. But the name really developed as a surname further north in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The Eske hamlet in the East Ridings of Yorkshire was the ancestral home of a Jackson family which began with Richard Jackson in the early 1500's. Later generations were first Royalist sympathizers and then Cromwell supporters who were granted land in Ireland. Descendants there were persecuted for their Quaker beliefs so Isaac Jackson removed his family in 1687 to the new Quaker settlement in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Isaac was a collateral relation to US President Andrew Jackson and, in a subsequent generation, to the Confederate general Stonewall Jackson.
Another Jackson Yorkshire line traces itself back to the early 1600's at Normanby Hall in Eston. Robert Ward Jackson from this family was the man who built the town of West Hartlepool in the early 19th century. Then there were the naval Jacksons from north Yorkshire. The journals of Ralph Jackson give a unique insight into life in Cleveland in the 18th century. W.L. Jackson, who started off in the leather business in Leeds, rose to be a Cabinet minister in Lord Salisbury's government. His son, Stanley Jackson, became the beau ideal of the Edwardian cricketer. He captained England against Australia in the 1905 Test series and headed both the batting and bowling averages.
One recent Jackson has had a less orthodox pedigree. Michael Jackson, a beer champion in his writings, was born in Wetherby, Yorkshire. But his was a stock which had a major input from the Jewish Lithuanian community. His immigrant father Isaac Jakowitz had anglicized his name to Jack Jackson.
America. An early immigrant to America was Robert Jackson who arrived in Massachusetts with his father in 1630 from Yarmouth in Norfolk.
His descendants have spread to all corners of the United States.
Both the 7th American President Andrew Jackson and the Confederate general Stonewall Jackson can trace their lineage back to a Yorkshire Jackson family. Both had an American frontier upbringing of their time.
Andrew Jackson's father had come to South Carolina from Ireland in 1756. Jackson's formative years came during the Revolutionary War when he was captured by the British and lost his family. Later, he began to practice law and soon was prospering in the rough-and-tumble world of frontier law. Jackson was US President from 1829 to 1837.
Stonewall Jackson was descended from John Jackson, the son of a wealthy London merchant, and Elizabeth Cummins. They had immigrated from England in 1749 and originally settled in Maryland. Shortly after the birth of their first child, the Jackson brigade crossed the Alleghany mountains to become pioneer settlers in what is now NW West Virginia. Elizabeth died in Clarksburg, West Virginia in 1825. having lived onto the ripe old age of 96.
Trapper Davy Jackson from West Virginia was one of the first Americans to head into the West. Jackson Hole, his area for fur trapping in Wyoming, is named after him. Two relatives John B. and Ulysses Jackson, sons of Henry Jackson, followed his overland trail in the 1840's to settle in what was then Oregon country. In 1871, William Henry Jackson took the first photographs of Yellowstone which encouraged the Government to create a national park there (even before Wyoming had been brought in as a state).
James Jackson, who had arrived in Savannah from England in the 1770's, became a force in local Georgia politics and created something of a family political dynasty in the state. Meanwhile other Jacksons were moving south in the early 19th century, many of them to start up plantations.
President Jackson's own plantation was the Hermitage, near Nashville in Tennessee. James and Temperance Jackson started their Jackson plantation in Autauga county, Alabama in 1818. Another Jackson family operated a smaller plantation in Georgia near Augusta. In 1840, Virginia planter Abner Jackson brought his family and slaves to Brazona county in Texas where he started his sugar plantation at what is now called Lake Jackson. Following Abner's death in 1861, his two sons took over the running of the plantation. However, the two sons fought. George ended up decapitating John and throwing his head into the lake As the plantation declined after the Civil War, the area became a black community.
There are African American Jackson accounts of the slave era in Virginia, the handed-down letters of Lethe Jackson in Abingdon and George Jackson's slave narrative from Loudon County. John Andrew Jackson, born a slave in South Carolina, fled north to Boston in 1846. The book he later wrote, The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina, recounted the suffering of his slave life. Another Jackson story is equally uplifting. Louise Jackson, born to a slave family in Mississippi, made it to college in Berkeley, California and became the first certified African American teacher of that state in the 1920's.
Jackson has become a prominent African American name. Leading Jacksons of today include: Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader; Frank Jackson, the mayor of Cleveland; Samuel L. Jackson, the actor; and Michael Jackson, the singer.
Select Jackson Miscellany
Select Jackson Names
Andrew Jackson was the 7th President of the United States.
Stonewall Jackson was a Confederate General during the Civil War.
Hughlings Jackson from Whixley in Yorkshire was a Victorian physician often called the father of English neurology.
Peter Jackson, born of a slave family in the West Indies, became a champion heavyweight boxer in the 1880's, known and admired for his sportsmanship.
Jesse Jackson, born in South Carolina, joined Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement in 1965 and has remained a prominent black leader and politician.
Glenda Jackson was an acclaimed British actress who later became an MP.
Michael Jackson of the Jackson Five burst into the national spotlight with his crossover album Thriller in the ealy 1980's.
Select Jacksons Today
Select Index of Names
The Origin/Spread of Surnames
Jack is believed to have derived from Janken, a pet-form of Jan or John. Jankin shortened to Jacken and thence to Jack, a process that was completed by the beginning of 14th century. Jack also came to be used as a synonym for man or boy, a usage that has continued to the present day - "I'm all right, Jack" being a popular catch phrase in England in the 1960's.
Jackson is the patronymic name, meaning "son of Jack."
Select
Jackson Resources on
The
Internet
- Diary of Ralph Jackson. Jackson and his north Yorkshire family.
- Jacksons of Long Island. Descendants of Robert Jackson.
- VMI Archives. Stonewall Jackson genealogy.
- Jackson Family Project Website. Jackson DNA project.
England. Adam Jackesonne and Adam Jakson appeared in the Staffordshire rolls of the 14th century. But the name really developed as a surname further north in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The Eske hamlet in the East Ridings of Yorkshire was the ancestral home of a Jackson family which began with Richard Jackson in the early 1500's. Later generations were first Royalist sympathizers and then Cromwell supporters who were granted land in Ireland. Descendants there were persecuted for their Quaker beliefs so Isaac Jackson removed his family in 1687 to the new Quaker settlement in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Isaac was a collateral relation to US President Andrew Jackson and, in a subsequent generation, to the Confederate general Stonewall Jackson.
Another Jackson Yorkshire line traces itself back to the early 1600's at Normanby Hall in Eston. Robert Ward Jackson from this family was the man who built the town of West Hartlepool in the early 19th century. Then there were the naval Jacksons from north Yorkshire. The journals of Ralph Jackson give a unique insight into life in Cleveland in the 18th century. W.L. Jackson, who started off in the leather business in Leeds, rose to be a Cabinet minister in Lord Salisbury's government. His son, Stanley Jackson, became the beau ideal of the Edwardian cricketer. He captained England against Australia in the 1905 Test series and headed both the batting and bowling averages.
One recent Jackson has had a less orthodox pedigree. Michael Jackson, a beer champion in his writings, was born in Wetherby, Yorkshire. But his was a stock which had a major input from the Jewish Lithuanian community. His immigrant father Isaac Jakowitz had anglicized his name to Jack Jackson.
America. An early immigrant to America was Robert Jackson who arrived in Massachusetts with his father in 1630 from Yarmouth in Norfolk.
"Tradition has it that Robert Jackson
came to Watertown, Mass to Wethersfield and thence to Hartford,
Connecticut, and finally to Hempstead which was perhaps the first
English settlement in the western part of Long Island."
His descendants have spread to all corners of the United States.
Both the 7th American President Andrew Jackson and the Confederate general Stonewall Jackson can trace their lineage back to a Yorkshire Jackson family. Both had an American frontier upbringing of their time.
Andrew Jackson's father had come to South Carolina from Ireland in 1756. Jackson's formative years came during the Revolutionary War when he was captured by the British and lost his family. Later, he began to practice law and soon was prospering in the rough-and-tumble world of frontier law. Jackson was US President from 1829 to 1837.
Stonewall Jackson was descended from John Jackson, the son of a wealthy London merchant, and Elizabeth Cummins. They had immigrated from England in 1749 and originally settled in Maryland. Shortly after the birth of their first child, the Jackson brigade crossed the Alleghany mountains to become pioneer settlers in what is now NW West Virginia. Elizabeth died in Clarksburg, West Virginia in 1825. having lived onto the ripe old age of 96.
Trapper Davy Jackson from West Virginia was one of the first Americans to head into the West. Jackson Hole, his area for fur trapping in Wyoming, is named after him. Two relatives John B. and Ulysses Jackson, sons of Henry Jackson, followed his overland trail in the 1840's to settle in what was then Oregon country. In 1871, William Henry Jackson took the first photographs of Yellowstone which encouraged the Government to create a national park there (even before Wyoming had been brought in as a state).
James Jackson, who had arrived in Savannah from England in the 1770's, became a force in local Georgia politics and created something of a family political dynasty in the state. Meanwhile other Jacksons were moving south in the early 19th century, many of them to start up plantations.
President Jackson's own plantation was the Hermitage, near Nashville in Tennessee. James and Temperance Jackson started their Jackson plantation in Autauga county, Alabama in 1818. Another Jackson family operated a smaller plantation in Georgia near Augusta. In 1840, Virginia planter Abner Jackson brought his family and slaves to Brazona county in Texas where he started his sugar plantation at what is now called Lake Jackson. Following Abner's death in 1861, his two sons took over the running of the plantation. However, the two sons fought. George ended up decapitating John and throwing his head into the lake As the plantation declined after the Civil War, the area became a black community.
There are African American Jackson accounts of the slave era in Virginia, the handed-down letters of Lethe Jackson in Abingdon and George Jackson's slave narrative from Loudon County. John Andrew Jackson, born a slave in South Carolina, fled north to Boston in 1846. The book he later wrote, The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina, recounted the suffering of his slave life. Another Jackson story is equally uplifting. Louise Jackson, born to a slave family in Mississippi, made it to college in Berkeley, California and became the first certified African American teacher of that state in the 1920's.
Jackson has become a prominent African American name. Leading Jacksons of today include: Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader; Frank Jackson, the mayor of Cleveland; Samuel L. Jackson, the actor; and Michael Jackson, the singer.
Select Jackson Miscellany
If you would like to read more, click on the miscellany page for
further stories and accounts:
Select Jackson Names
Andrew Jackson was the 7th President of the United States.
Stonewall Jackson was a Confederate General during the Civil War.
Hughlings Jackson from Whixley in Yorkshire was a Victorian physician often called the father of English neurology.
Peter Jackson, born of a slave family in the West Indies, became a champion heavyweight boxer in the 1880's, known and admired for his sportsmanship.
Jesse Jackson, born in South Carolina, joined Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement in 1965 and has remained a prominent black leader and politician.
Glenda Jackson was an acclaimed British actress who later became an MP.
Michael Jackson of the Jackson Five burst into the national spotlight with his crossover album Thriller in the ealy 1980's.
Select Jacksons Today
- 174,000 in the UK (most numerous in London)
- 183,000 in America (most numerous in Texas)
- 80,000 elsewhere (most numerous in Canada)
Select Index of Names
The Origin/Spread of Surnames